A teenager has been subjected to a tirade of verbal abuse after a fellow train passenger complained about her pulling down her face mask so her deafblind sister could read her lips.
Caroline Paknaite, 24, was traveling with her 16-year-old sister, Saule, on a Merseyrail train from Liverpool Central on July 16.
However, due to the fact that Caroline has Usher syndrome - a condition characterized by partial or total hearing loss and vision loss that worsens over time - Saule needed to pull down her face mask to help her deafblind sister better understand her.
But another passenger said the teenager was "taking the p***" and said that Caroline was "deafblind my a**" - despite the two sisters also being accompanied by Caroline's guide dog.
The upsetting video can be seen below:Per Sense.org.uk:
"Deafblindness is a combination of sight and hearing impairment that affects how you communicate, access information and get around. Being deafblind does not necessarily mean that you are totally deaf or totally blind – most individuals who are deafblind have some residual sight and/or hearing."
Taking to Facebook to share the disturbing video, Caroline also shared a message regarding face mask regulations, her condition, and asked others to "be kind". She wrote:
"As tomorrow approaches with new mask rules, I feel that I need to bring awareness and share this now
"On Thursday 16th, I was on a train with my sister. We both wore a face covering but my sister lifted up her mask whenever she spoke. This passenger came to us and asked why my sister was doing that. My sister explained it’s because I need to lipread as I can’t hear much otherwise. The passenger started shouting at her which escalated to an argument as you can see in the video."
Caroline then explained that she and her sister had ordered clear face masks and visors prior to the incident, but they had not arrived on time.
She also explained that - according to UK government guidelines - her sister is exempt from wearing a mask if she is attempting to help Caroline lip read. Regardless, Caroline says her sister "insisted wearing it to reduce any risk" and added that they "used hand sanitizer frequently and she did not reuse her mask."
Caroline's post continues to explain what happened after the video had ended. She says:
"I was holding my sister, unaware of what was happening. The lady then poked me and signed saying sorry and something else that I have no idea what. I responded saying that I lip read, I do not sign, not every deaf person signs. She then started shouting again, saying that her son is deaf and that I am not deaf.
"She then poked my sister, breaking the 2-meter rule again. As she was leaving, she then was shouting to another passenger the same thing, bringing more danger to us. Fortunately, when the lady left, this passenger came to us and said that he understood us, apologized what happened and wished us good luck."
Caroline explained that she is sharing her story due to the fact she "keeps experiencing attacks" and it is having a negative effect on her mental health.
She continued: "Not enough people are taking this pandemic seriously but this behavior is never acceptable.
"Please, respect people individually, ask us, listen, discuss and I am always happy to hear ideas for alternative solutions, but harassment, name-calling, or any type of abuse or aggression will never be ok.
"To the passenger in the video who might see this video. I don’t know you. I don’t know what kind of day you had experienced or the pressures you might have been under but I forgive you and I am sorry it happened like this. I should have stayed patient with you throughout."
She added: "To others who may be tempted to share this video, please do not bring hate to this passenger. The purpose of this video is NOT to shame her, but learn mistakes by everyone in the video.
"No one is innocent and I encourage you to learn more about Ushers Syndrome/Retinitis Pigmentosa or even the difference between Deaf and deaf, and similarly blind."
Finally, she ended by asking people "to be kind and patient with each other".
